Method of applying plant response substances



Patented Jan. 27, 1948 METHOD OF APPLYING PLANT RESPONSE SUBSTANCESHarold A. Schomer, Beltsville, Md., and Charles L. Hamner, Geneva, N.Y., assignors to the United States of America, as represented by theSecretary of Agriculture No Drawing. Application January 16, 1945,Serial No. 573,095

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3700. G. 757) 13 Claims.

This application is made under the act' of March 3, 1883, as amended bythe act of April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described, ifpatented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of theUnited States of America for governmental purposes without the paymentto us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to plant response substances, particularly plantgrowth regulants such as naphthoxyacetic acid, indole butyric acid,naphthalene acetic acid, alpha-naphthyl acetamide, r-chloro-phenoxyacetic acid, ether extracts of plants, and so forth, and particularly toa method of applying such substances to plants, such as hemp, roses,apples, tomatoes, and so forth.

The invention has among its objects the treatment of plants so as toproduce improved plant responses, such as increased and early setting,early growth, early maturing of fruit, the production of seedless fruit,and so forth. Other objects will be apparent from the followingdescription. I

In the prior art, various methods have been employed in applying plantresponse substances, but these methods are each objectionable forvarious reasons. For example, the method of applying a plant responsesubstance in the form of a paste is an extremely tedious and drawn outprocess and is impracticable in cases where large numbers of plants mustbe treated. It has the further disadvantage in that there is no way ofknowing how much of the response substance is in solution in the paste,thus, rendering duplicate or control treatments difficult, if notimpossible.

The ordinary spraying method is also objectionable in that too muchsolvent, such as alcohol, is required to get the response substance intosolution, many of such solvents being expensive and toxic to plants.Also, each plant must be sprayed individually, since the particle sizeof sprays is too large to diffuse uniformly in the air. Furthermore,since the'amount of spray each plant receives is difiicult to measure,the duplication of treatments is also difficult.

The method of dipping the plant in aqueous solutions of plant responsesubstances is also objectionable. It is impracticable in cases where,the plants are large or are growing in a fixed location. In othercases, as in the treatment of bunch grapes, dipping is objectionablebecause of resulting appearances. This method is also objectionable inthat too much solvent is required to put the plant response substanceinto sol"tion.

The method of volatilization by heat involves placing the plant responsesubstance directly on a hot surface, the heat volatilizing thesubstances into particles of unknown size and structure. This method isobjectionable also in that the volatile products produced are of unknownsize and structure, much of the material is decomposed by the heat, theresulting concentration of response substance in the atmosphere is alsounknown, and the apparatus necessary for the method is cumbersome.

In general, our invention comprises the application of plant responsesubstances in aerosol form to the surfaces of plants. This methodobviates the deficiencies of the prior art in that it is rapid and easyto operate, economical and not tedious. It involves only a small amountof labor, is employable over large groups of plants at one time, andpermits duplication of treatments with a high degree of accuracy.Solvents can be used that are not toxic to plants and no change inappearance of plants results. In fact, the solvent does not even contactthe plants in liquid form. Moreover, no breakdown of the structure ofthe plant response substances occurs by the use of the method of thisinvention. The exact amount of the plant response substance may bedelivered to any size enclosure and the particles disperse themselvesuniformly as tiny colloidal particles throughout the enclosure.

A preferred manner of applying the aerosol is by the method disclosed inUnited States Patent No. 2,321,023, in accordance with which the plantresponse substance or substances are dissolved in a low-boiling solventand the resulting solution atomized into the air surrounding the plantsby means of its own vapor pressure. The solution is kept in a containerhaving a control valve for release of the liquid in the form of a sprayat any.

Example I The aerosol solution was prepared by dissolving v one gramnaphthoxyacetic acid in 10 grams of cyclohexanone as thehigh-boiling-point mutual solvent, and this solution, in turn, beingdissolved in 89 grams of dimethyl ether as the volatile solvent. Tomatoplants with their first blossom about 9 days, the number of visiblefruits per plant was 3 for the treated andzfiidfor the non 10 trols, aratio of 6 to l. The average'niameteroff the fruits after 36 days was2.9 inch'es for the. treated plants, and 2.1 inches for the control. Thefruits of the treated plants were seedless;

Example II The same as Example I, except that the plant responsesubstance was naphthaleneaceticeacids Example III 'Ihesame. as Example1, except that .the. ,plant response. substance was. alpha-naphthyl:acete amide.-

Example :I V

The same as Example I," except that the "plant response "substance" wasl chiormphen'oxy acetic acidI El'bample. V

The same as Example I,..except:that the :plant response substancewaseaneth'er extract of a plant;

Thesame as Examplel, except that inthiscase, theeerosol contained amixture .oinaphthoxyaceticacidl indole. butyric acid, naphthaleneacetidacid, and'alphaenaphthyl acetamide, each. 4%. in. solution,. I asthe applied plant. response substances.

In .the foregoing. examples the. results obtained are very'. similar .to.those shown .under Example I.

' This aerosol method of applying. plant response. substances also has.been used- L on .a number. of fruits and vegetables,.amongthemtheiollowing; with results as indicated:

Apples-Prevented fruit drop and. hastened. maturity of fruit, .more thanwith other--meth'ods. previously referred to.

Small fruits.Increa-sed the set of smallfruits, such as blackberry andraspberry; Also waseffective in. producing. di'iiicult crosses where.other. methods of; application of "growth substances had" failed; i.e'., .Hailsh'am' (tetraploidl raspberry on" lDorado blackberry#459"(tetrap1oid) Cucumbers-Increasedset' of fruits, hastened growth,and produced seedlessfruit;

Forest tree seedlings-Inhibited bud; growth, thus prolonging the'transplantingperiod. This method was'more' efiectivethan othenmethodsi6 employed.

Potatoes-Prevented sprouting; which'wasim= portant applications tocommercial storage.

ItTiStO"'b understood that'the' proportions of the various ingredientsused] to prepare" the" aerosol, asshown" specifically in" Example I;may' bevarled"withinwidedimits:

This method of applying'plant response sub stances in aerosol fornnalsomay be used in unconfined areas, as, for example, in the fields, .asa'spray;

Three days later, visible fruits"- were observed on the treated plantawhile nonecwere visible on untreated control plants. Afters Having thusdescribed our invention, what is claimed is:

1. Ainethodcfrapplyinga plantigrowth regulanttoplants' comprisingdispersing the plant ...growth regulant in aerosol form in the ambientair of the plants.

21 A methodz'ot claim 1, wherein the plant rowth regulant isnaphthoxyacetic acid.

3. A methodof claim 1, wherein the plant growtlr'regulantfis-indolebutyric acid.

41A .method of claim 1, wherein the plant growthregulmntis naphthaleneacetic acid.

5. A method of claim 1, wherein the plant growth regulant is'-a1pha-naphthyl acetamide.

65A method of claim 1, wherein the plant growth regulant is an etherextract of a plant. 7. A method of claim 1, wherein the plant growthregulant consists of equal parts of naphtl'10xy-aceticacid; indolebutyric acid, naphthalene acetic acid, and alpha-naphthyl acetamide:

. 8:..The method of appiyingzplantgrowthregu lantsr-to plantscomprisingasubjectinga the plants.

to an atmosphere'containing; theregulants in aerosol-forms.

9. 'I'he-qmethod-of applying lant growth. regu-- lants toplants-comprising; subjecting ;;the plants to an: atmosphere containing:the. regulants in aerosol ,form and; maintainingtheplants in .the

, atmosphere: 3 until aerosol particles 5 of ;the regulantssettl'e ontheplants.

10;. The method of treating aplant with a plant growthregulantcomprising gcontacting, the plant with.- 1 the .:plant growth regal-antin aerosol form.

11. The.-- method of. producing. av new plant: variety comprisinghybridizing different speciesof berries. undera the influence of aiplantgrowth regplan-t in. aerosol-form.

12;.The. method of producinga: new plant 5 variety comprisinghybridizinga species ofraspe berrmwithaspecies-oi blackberry underthe.-in-.

fluence-z of: a; plant growth regulant ini aerosol form.

13. The method. of producing a new plant variety .comprisinghybridizinga Hailsham tetraploid raspberry, with: an El Dorado tetraploidblackberry under the influence of aplant growth regulant in aerosol.form.

HAROLD A. vSCHOMER... CHARLES. L. HAMNER.

REFERENCES. CITED The: following references are :of record inz-thefileeof-i thisspatent:

" UNITED"STATES- PATENTS OTHER LREEERENCES Zimmerman, Present Status ofPlant. Hormones,"'IIid.- Eng, Chem, vol. 35,. pp. 596-601 (Mav1943);

Mitchell, PedigreediPine Science, vol; 96,.N o: 2503'; pp, 559 'and5'60" (Dec. 18', 1942)

